Good things may come to those who wait, but they only come to those who work for them.
Fifth-year senior Eli Nichols, a man of eclectic interests, embodies this motto in the classroom, on the field and, well, out at the fishing pond.
"I grew up right on the water in the panhandle of Florida," said Nichols, a defensive end. "In middle school I caught a 50-pound cobia, and that was pretty cool. It was a good fight."
A much harder fight, however, is balancing outstanding academics and athletics.
A Pratt '06 graduate with a B.S.E. degree in mechanical engineering, Nichols-who is now pursuing a Masters in Engineering Management-has often had to make difficult and compromising decisions between football and school.
Nichols missed last spring's intrasquad game, for example, in order to take the eight-hour Fundamentals of Engineering exam.
This fall, he missed two more games. Unfortunately for Nichols, this absence was due to what was thought to be a career-ending knee injury during Duke's game at Alabama.
"Right away, I knew something was wrong," Nichols said. "My first thought sitting down when the trainers were coming over was that my season was over, and therefore my career was over here."
The loss of Nichols would have further devastated a Duke team that has not defeated a Division I-A opponent since 2004, but that was not the immediate concern of the coaching staff.
"I was worried for him because that would have been his final play at Duke," head coach Ted Roof said.
Nevertheless, Nichols, a preseason nomination for the Lott Trophy for best overall student-athlete and one of the strongest players on the team-he can bench press 460 pounds-summoned all the strength he could to return as quickly as possible. He made his full comeback against Navy last weekend after playing a few series against Vanderbilt.
"We really did not expect him to return before maybe the Carolina game," defensive line coach Scott Brown wrote in an e-mail. "Needless to say, Eli returning gives our players and staff a source of confidence."
The knee injury, combined with the quick and courageous comeback, symbolizes Nichols' career at Duke. A slender 215 pounds when he entered Duke in 2002, Nichols redshirted to add bulk onto his 6-foot-4 frame.
Sitting on the sidelines for a year proved crucial, as Nichols has since bulked up to 260 pounds. He immediately made his presence known when he got playing time-he has led the team in sacks two years in a row and might have done so this year if not for the knee injury.
Along with All-American cornerback John Talley, Nichols has been mentioned as a potential late-round pick in next spring's NFL Draft.
"It is not out of the realm of possibility," Brown said. "He will get a chance to make a team due to his unusual strength and intelligence. Time will tell."
Even if the NFL market does not have much available to him next spring, though, one thing is certain-the defensive end will not have to fish for success in the future for very long.
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